Aphonic {TMR;Newt}

[17%]

"Did anyone try climbing to the top?"

It was Mid-day. Thankfully a passing cloud was providing us shade from the boiling sun. At this point of time, it was when the Glade smelled most of sweat and soil, a musk each one of the boys carried in their clothes. Slowly, I had absorbed the scent too.

Thomas was continuously bombarding Newt with questions. I listened but concentrated on uprooting earth to plant new seeds. Newt was tying vines with coarse twine, Zart proceeding with the same job as I and Thomas--well he was supposed to be digging a hole so a new pole could be placed.

I decided to help since I had nothing else on my plate.

"Tried it, the ivy doesn't go all the way to the top. Besides, where are you gonna go from there?"

"Yeah, well what about The Box? Y'know, next time someone comes up you just drop-"

"No, we tried that. The Box won't go back down with someone in it."

"Kay, well what if we-"

"No, we tried it. Twice!" Newt, despite all the pestering questions, found this amusing in some improbable way. He leaned against the tied up branches creating the garden structure, right above where I worked on my knees. "Alright, trust me. Anything you think of, we've already tried. The only way out here is through the Maze." I swallowed thickly as Newt morphed to humorless.

Thomas, defeated and pouting, shoved his shovel harshly into the dirt.

"Now, look you wanna be helpful?" Newt lent down to the branch-woven basket in front of me, tossing it over to Thomas. "Here, go dig us up some more fertilizer." Thomas dropped his shovel to fumble for the basket thrown to him.

Zart chuckled, Newt smiling amused.

Dissatisfied, Thomas pulled the small metal shovel from inside the basket and began to turn towards the forest just only a few yards away. I grew jealous since I had been bending over for nearly two hours. My back hankering with a tight pull that wished to be stretched.

"Yeah, well where is it?" Thomas sighed. 

Like my calling, I stood up, tapping Newt's bare shoulder to get his attention. I gestured to Thomas.

"You want to go with him?" His face fell slightly while asking.

I nodded. His eyebrows were pulled tightly together, gnawing on the inside of his lower corner lip. He was hesitating to answer or profusely reiterating the question to think it over. He scratched the back of his head, before patting the side of his leg dejectedly.

"Yeah, go on then. Hurry it up." With a thankful smile, which caused his face to lighten, I ran after Thomas.

"See, told you."

When we entered the umber-brown forest, the feeling was opposite from blissful nature. The place was dark, harrowing, and had the similarity of loneliness the walls themselves emitted. The sun still leaked through the leaves, but the shadows contrasted greater against it. I saw clumps of moss, wild berries, and dead leaf veiled trails.

I lightly puckered my lips, exaggerating a confused face. Let's just say I've had to master the art of facial expressions hence of my disability. Thomas shook his head.

"Unbelievable." I shrugged my shoulders, mouthing 'what?' "Forget it." He seemed highly entertained with whatever I 'didn't see'.

We went back to our comfortable silence, the songs of the birds filling it for us. We listened to their song-filled conversations as we walked a bit of a distance. The forest was just as big as what it appeared to be. Just a cloud of green that outgrew up, the tops of trees plump like mushrooms from the illusions of the leaves.